Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Mini History Lesson

Profiles in History is having an auction entitled Icons of Animation on December 17. While the majority of items are out of my price range (maybe all of them actually), you can download a catalog of the auction for free.

Even if you're not in the market to buy, the catalog is a mini history lesson by itself. It contains art from Disney, MGM, Warner Bros, Fleischer and Hanna Barbera. There is work by Bill Tytla, Fred Moore, Carl Barks, Bob Clampett, Virgil Ross, Irv Wyner, Mary Blair, Preston Blair, Gustav Tenggren, Charles Schulz, etc. There are worse ways to spend time than by paging through the download and admiring so much beautiful stuff.

3 comments:

Anonymous
said...

It's an interesting collection of stuff, and one that brings up a question I've wondered about over the last 20 years of these sales and auctions:

How DID so many of the visual development materials from WDP get into the hands of collectors? Storyboard sequences, the many Mary Blair paintings done for Alice, Peter Pan, Make Mine Music etc...and so much else?It's probably amazing there's anything left in the Morgue at all.

What an amazing collection. I'm glad the auction houses take the time to put these books (and online presentations) together because this is as close to the real things that most of us will ever get.

Regarding the process of how these works got into the hands of collectors... it is my understanding that the value of the art was considered to be in the final film. The old artwork was often given away!

About Me

I've worked as an animator, writer, producer and director in TV animation for 29 years. I created the cgi series Monster By Mistake.
I hold a Masters degree from York University in Cinema and Media Studies and am currently teaching animation at Sheridan College.
I can be contacted at mark(dot)mayerson(at)sheridanc(dot)on(dot)ca.